Devils Roses 05 - Death

her that is going to kill her, slowly. They wanted to try to take her power before she died. Also he needed Tristan back. He made me wipe Phillip's mind and tell him that everything he knew was a lie. He believes Ari is the problem. That Lorri is the devil, for real. Jonathan wants the power to be in Tristan so he can kill his mother and take her powers. She is weak. Really weak. When she dies Jonathan is going to make Tristan do spells on him to make him more powerful than anything. More powerful than you or Lorri or God. Marcus made me eat Hanna to change her into the beast. Jonathan made Marcus brainwash me to be an all-consuming monster. Giselle's kisses taste like honey…"
    I put my hands up, "Okay. Got it."
    I looked at Aleks who stands with his arms crossed over his broad chest and shake my head, "I knew he wouldn’t be evil for no reason."
    Aleks sighs, "Can you take away all the brainwashing?"
    Giselle shrugs and grabs Shane's arm. She looks into his eyes and speaks, "You forget everything Marcus made you do and everything he made you be. Just be the Shane we always knew before and don’t remember the bad stuff you did to the humans."
    She steps back. His eyes fuzz over. He looks at me and then at Giselle and Aleks.
    He points at me with a limp hand and frowns, "Aimes. What's going on?" He looks down at Giselle, "Did we kiss?"
    She laughs, "I guess. Sort of. No." She looks at me, "What should I say."
    I smile. "The truth. She kissed you and you are cursed. Those are two things you're going to need to work out."
    He steps towards me, "I kinda got the impression you and I were trying to work something out."
    I step back and shake my head, "No. Not doing this again. Shane, you and I are good friends. Very good friends. This is actually my boyfriend, Aleks."
    He squints at Aleks confusedly, "Hey man. Did we meet before? Where the hell are we?"
    Aleks starts to laugh. I join him.

Chapter Twenty-Four

    Hanna

    I wipe the sweat from her forehead and watch Lucas. He's desperate.
    "My dad is really smart. I promise he can help her."
    Lucas doesn’t take his eyes away from her. The memories of her being snarky and shitty to me try to sneak their way into my mind. I shut them down. I know her and Sam are close. I know what I did.
    The memories of the women from my mother's family still haunt me. They were so convincing. Almost like my effect on other people. I wanted to be with them and make them happy. I wanted to be part of what they were. They convinced me I wanted it more than I wanted him.
    That was never a truth. Never.
    "They'll be okay. He'll be back." Lucas speaks softly but doesn’t move from his vigilant watch.
    "I just screwed up so many times. I don't think he's ever going to forgive. Not for real."
    "He loves you Hanna. Trust me, if anyone gets it it's me. You've been a complete shit to him but you're the one."
    Ben sighs, "I hope I never fall in love."
    Lucas's words hurt but I glance back at Ben and smirk, "You mean like how you love Giselle and never tell anyone because of the succubus thing and Vampire thing and her being completely moronic thing?"
    Lucas laughs. It isn’t hearty and strong like before. But it's a laugh. Ben scowls at me and then smirks, "Screw you Hanna."
    Lucas laughs harder, "She got you there."
    "Damn succubus. How did you know?"
    "The midnight watch at the hospital when she was sick. I caught you sneaking and staying with her for hours at a time."
    He nods and stares, "It's the magic of the mythical beast. It isn’t love."
    I tilt my head, "You sat and rotated icy cloths on her forehead for hours. I watched you once. I sat there waiting for Marcus to come and help her. He didn’t. I just wanted to believe he would. He would be the man I needed him to be. Prove me wrong about him."
    Ben scoffs, "Yeah, that worked out eh."
    I shake my head, "He deserves what has happened to him." I catch a glimpse of the tight jaw Lucas is sporting. I know he, like the rest of us, blames Marcus completely.
    "You going to kill him?" I ask softly.
    Lucas shakes his head, "No. The thing that’s been done to him is much worse than simple death."
    Ben knocks me in the back, "Wanna go get a drink?"
    I nod and stand up. "I'm sorry if my bracelet isn’t keeping it all at bay."
    Lucas shakes his head, "It's fine. You love Sam. We know."
    Ben grabs my hand and pulls me out. He drags me down the hall. Sam walks up as we round the corner. He sees Ben holding my hand. His eyes narrow, "Hey."
    I pull